


Girl's Best Friend

by sonneta



Category: Pushing Daisies
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-03
Updated: 2011-08-03
Packaged: 2017-10-22 03:59:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/233508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonneta/pseuds/sonneta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emerson takes a rather unusual (for him) case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girl's Best Friend

Emerson Cod was sitting with his feet up on his desk, reading the latest KnitWit magazine when a timid knock came at his door.

“It’s open,” he called, swinging his feet to the floor and putting the magazine on his desk. He was surprised to see a small girl with blonde hair and a Butterfly Girls sash on.

“Can I help you?” Emerson asked.

The little girl walked forward (Emerson could barely see her around his desk), and placed a page on top of the desk.

Emerson took the page. It was a MISSING poster, for … one of the strangest-looking dogs Emerson had ever seen. At least, he thought Cookie (for that was the animal’s name) was a dog.

“Help me find my dog, Mr. Cod,” the little girl said.

“Oh, he--” Emerson remembered who was the potential client. “Heck no,” he said. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I don’t do animals.”

“But, Mr. Cod. Cookie’s my only friend,” the girl said, a tear dripping from one of her wide blue eyes.

Emerson sighed. She didn’t look anything like his Penny - but yet he couldn’t help but feel for her. _Oh, he-- heck_ , he really was going soft.

“Alright, I’ll do it. But you owe me at least five boxes of Butterfly Biscuits,” Emerson said, naming the specialty scones that the Butterfly Girls sold yearly. “Why don’t you tell me your name, and how you lost Cookie.”

The facts were these: Madyson Madison-Madison was seven years, 31 days, and 21 hours old. Her parents had bought Cookie for her when she was born - and the dog had always been her closest friend. They had just recently moved to the area, so at the moment, Cookie was her only friend. Two days prior, Maddy had come home from school to find Cookie gone.

Maddy didn’t know what type of breed Cookie was, so Emerson decided to start with a visit to his friend Simone Hundin.

* * *

“Hey Simone--” Emerson called as he came into her dog training facilities, but he was quickly stopped by Simone’s clicker.

“Just a moment,” Simone said. She finished reading the papers in her hands, then turned to Emerson.

“Emerson. Pleasure,” she said, kissing him on both cheeks.

“Simone, always a pleasure to see you,” Emerson said. “Do you know what kind of dog this is?” He showed her the MISSING poster with Cookie on it.

“Yes, it’s a newer breed... a Mointer.”

“A what now?”

“A Mointer... a cross between a Mastiff and a Pointer,” Simone explained.

“Would a dog like this be valuable?” Emerson asked.

“Oh, yes, very much so,” Simone said. “Could fetch a pretty penny for someone.”

 _And all I asked for as reward was biscuits_ , Emerson thought. “Thanks, Simone, you’re a peach.”

“Of course, darling.” As Emerson turned and started to walk away, she snapped her clicker again. “Wait... how about dinner, this weekend?”

Emerson turned back. “Sounds great. I’ll call you?”

“I shall call you, I think,” Simone said. “Goodbye, then.” _Click._

Emerson seemed a bit dazed as he walked out of the building.  


* * *

Emerson had gone through nearly all of the local dog breeders in the phone book, asking each if they had a Mointer. All had answered in the negative, and Emerson was wondering if this lead was going nowhere. But, he had one breeder left to call - a Zeph Zephyr.

“Hello, Mr. Zephyr? My name’s Tom Thompson. I’m looking to buy a dog for my little girl. She’s got her heart set on a Mointer.”

“I’m sorry, no Mointers,” Zephyr said.

“Oh, well... Suzie will be disappointed --”

“Just a moment. I don’t have any Mointers, but I think I know where you might be able to get one - keep in mind, Mr. Thompson, these are not inexpensive dogs.”

“Oh, I know,” Emerson said.

“There’s an auction tonight at the dog park - all kinds of dogs will be there, and if you’re going to find a Mointer in this town, that’d be the place,” Zephyr said.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Zephyr. I’ll definitely be there.”

* * *

Emerson had some time to kill, so he went down to The Pie Hole for a slice of blueberry.

“Hey, Emerson,” Olive said when she got around to his table. She sat down across from him in the opposite booth. “Whatcha working on? Any good cases?”

“No,” Emerson said simply. “I’d like the blueberry.”

“We just sold out of the blueberry,” Olive said. “No, seriously, come on, what’s your latest case?”

“Out of blueberry? Oh, fine, get me the blackberry. And there’s nothing much, right now.”

“Nothing much means something,” Olive said.

“Blackberry. With ice cream,” Emerson said.

Olive wandered off in somewhat of a huff. Emerson considered how he was going to get Cookie. Je didn’t really know the dog from Adam, it might be best to take Maddy with him, but that would look awfully suspicious. The perp might know it was her dog.... Well, unless...

When Olive brought out his blackberry a la mode, Emerson had a proposition. “Hey, Olive. I got a proposition... you like dogs?”

* * *

That night, Olive and Maddy went together to the dog park. Emerson was also there, but he had arrived separately.

Both Olive and Maddy were dressed in matching ivory dresses, patterned with an avocado-green paisley. Both wore matching green hats and oversized black sunglasses. Olive took out her phone and pressed a speed-dial number.

“Butterflies to guard dog... butterflies to guard dog, we are in the dog house,” Olive said.

“Olive, we’re on the phone, not walkie-talkies. Have you spotted Cookie yet?”

“Not yet. Going to look at the merchandise, over.”

Emerson put his phone away, rolling his eyes a bit at Olive's spy lingo.

Olive and Maddy went up to look at the dogs that were up for auction. Olive stopped to talk with the breeder of an Auss-Tzu (a mix of Miniature Austrailain Shepard and Shih Tzu), while Maddy continued wandering.

Maddy looked and looked, and looked and looked and --- wait, there he was! Maddy drew in her breath as she saw her Cookie. She desperately wanted to go over and pet her beloved friend, to hold him, but she knew she had to play it cool. She wandered back over to where Olive was still asking questions about the lineage of the Auss-Tzu. “Mommy, I found the one I want,” she said.

“Alright, dear,” Olive said. “Excuse me, sir,” she said, leading the girl off to the chairs in the audience.

“You saw him?” Olive asked.

“Yes, it was Cookie!” Maddy said.

Olive made the sign for hush, and they made their way over to where Emerson was sitting.

“Found him?” Emerson said.

“Yep, found the one she wants,” Olive confirmed.

“Let’s wait. We still need to figure out who took him, and that person may be here somewhere,” Emerson said.

Olive and Maddy nodded, and settled in as the auction began.

During the auction for the Auss-Tzu, Maddy spotted him. She pulled on Emerson’s sleeve. “Mr. Cod, I know that man!” she said, pointing to a man in a blue-and-white striped suit.

“Who is he?” Emerson said.

“He lives down the street... his name’s... Zee... Zenda... Zephler...”

“Zephyr?!” Emerson asked.

“Yeah, that’s it. Zephyr,” Maddy said.

Emerson marched up to Zeph Zephyr, tapping him on the shoulder. “Mr. Zephyr?”

“Yes...”

Emerson punched Zephyr, and the dog breeder fell to the ground. “Really? You’re really gonna steal a little girl’s best friend?” Emerson asked.

“I - I didn’t --” Zephyr said.

“I thought you said you didn’t have a Mointer, but you just a big liar, aren’t you?”

“I called the police,” Olive said, stepping up beside Emerson. “They should be here momentarily.”

“Cookie!” Maddy called, throwing her arms around the Mointer who was her best friend.

“You can’t sell this one, sorry,” Olive said, taking the dog’s leash from the auction employee who had a hold of it. “He’s taken.”

* * *

The next day, Maddy brought Emerson a whole case of Butterfly Biscuits - and a fat reward check from her parents.

“Thank you, Mr. Cod,” Maddy said after she passed over Emerson’s reward.

“Call me Emerson,” he said.

“Is this your daughter?” Maddy asked, pointing out a picture of Penny that sat on Emerson’s desk.

“Yeah. Her name’s Penny,” Emerson said.

“Penny,” Maddy said. “I’ve seen her. At Butterfly Girls camp this past summer.”

Emerson sat up straighter. “Where’s this camp? How many Butterfly Girls groups come to it?”

“It’s in Fleur de Printemps... there’s, I don’t know... probably hundreds of girls, from all over the state.”

The state... his Penny was in this state, or had been this summer. Emerson had to blink a few times, and clear his throat. _Stupid allergies... he’d been around too many dogs lately._

“Thank you,” he said. "Thank you."

**Author's Note:**

> For entwashian on LiveJournal. As far as I know, "Mointers" don't exist, but "Auss-Tzus" do. No animals were harmed in the making of this fic.


End file.
